Velocity Ferocity
by Gomro Morskopp
Summary: COMPLETE. While on a mission, Kim and Ron are rescued by a mysterious super-powered benefactor; soon old enemies will arise, and a new danger emerge.
1. Acceleration Frustration

Chapter 1: Acceleration Frustration

"So," roared Professor Dementor, "ze great Kim Possible and her, ah, _so-so_ sidekick are truly reduced to ze ineffectiveness _absolute_! For you shall never be escaping my hyperadhesive superribbons in time to stop ze countdown! And with my ionosphere de-ionizer in orbit, I vill hold the world for ransom!

Ron was tired of the ranting. "Man, he just will _not_ shut up! So we make a little blunder, we get caught in these giant flystrips, and he's on about it like he's never seen a hero get caught in a trap before!"

"Ron, the countdown…the de-ionizer…try to focus on the _now_, please." Kim was doing her best to get to her compact, which contained a gas guaranteed to loosen any solvent known to man. It also left the air smelling fresh and clean, a big plus in stuffy villainous lairs. No dice. "Where's Rufus?" The naked mole rat was worth much more than his weight in gold when it came to getting out of deathtraps. He had a special talent in that regard.

"He's caught in my pocket. Can't get the flap open. Stupid glue!"

Dementor howled with laughter. "Not so stupid; it caught _you_!" Under a minute to launch. "Maybe if you vere being _smarter_ than ze _glue_, you vould be stopping my - vhat is _zis_?"

The counter was flashing "Launch Sequence Aborted."

"No, there vill be none of ze aborting launch sequences today!" The mad scientist glared at his captives. "I do not know vhat you are doing, but I vould advise you to be stopping ze doing it!" He pulled a lethal-looking ray from its holster, brandished it in their direction. "Zis demolecularizer vill be demolecularizing you _toot sweet_. _Then_ ve shall see about you remote-controlly aborting my launch sequences!"

But the ray was gone from his hand. A second later, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were witness to the most bizarre thing they'd seen that week, aside from the incident with the iguanas.

One moment Dementor was standing on the platform, wondering what had happened to his gun; the next blink of an eye found him tied up in patch bay cables, a neat little bundle beside the countdown indicator. As Kim and Ron watched in amazement, switches were thrown, knobs turned, all almost faster than the eye could see. The whole lair was shut down in under thirty seconds.

The hyperadhesive that held them captive dissolved in a puff of gas; they dropped to the floor. As usual, Kim landed on her feet, still ready for a fight.

As usual, Ron landed on his head and staggered to his feet, momentarily not sure where he was.

Something whooshed past them, more felt than seen. The door flashed open and shut; whatever saved them was gone.

Coming to his senses, Ron managed to get the glue off his pants pocket; Rufus popped out with an annoyed chattering, ran up to Ron's shoulder and began a belated lookout for enemies on the horizon.

Kim already had Wade on the Kimmunicator. "Let Global Justice know that we've got a supervillain here ready for pickup.

"On it."

"It was Dementor, just like we figured."

"I'll be honest, I lost you guys for a little while there. He does a better job at shielding his lairs than any of the others. Did I miss much?"

"Just the tornado that blew through. Don't know what it was, but it saved us. You got anything?"

"Like I said, nothing from inside the lair. But I've got your coordinates now; I'll review some satellite footage. See what turns up."

"We _couldn't_ see what turned up. That's the problem."

"Someone with a stealth suit?"

"Someone faster than the eye."

Wade chuckled. "Maybe it was Speedy Gonzales."

"This is real life, Wade, not cartoons!"

"And in real life," bellowed Dementor, from the platform, "there is competition _always_! Maybe someone is now on ze scene that vill be making Kim Possible _obsolete_, yes? _And_ her buffoon with ze hamster!"

Ron had enough. "Put a lid on it, crazy scientist with the silly headgear!"

"Zis helmet is making a _statement_! It is shouting to ze world: 'Bevare – Mad Scientist Beneath!' Zis is more than you can say for your rodent!"

"Consider the source, buddy," he advised his pet, then shouted back: "_No one_ can make KP obsolete! She's unique! Isn't that right, Kim?"

But the red-haired teenager was silent.

"Kim?"

Dementor's laughs echoed through the lair. Even in defeat, he recognized a small victory.

Just outside Middleton, several miles from Dementor's hideout, the person responsible for that defeat felt the telltale signs of impending deceleration: heart racing, thirst growing, her senses losing the incredible sensitivity they possessed in the accelerated state. She'd been amusing herself by outrunning cars on the way back into town; there'd be no more of that today.

"_Hushpuppies_!" She'd picked that up from her mother, who had used it instead of more vitriolic exclamations. Mom was gone now, but the word remained. She stopped running, stood perfectly still until the process was complete. It didn't pay to be in motion when deceleration kicked in. She'd learned that the hard way.

Bob Bradley was about to pass the petite blonde hitchhiker when he suddenly realized who she was. He braked, pulled off; the woman jogged up to meet him. "You're Suzanne Personich!"

"That's me, hon."

"Car break down?" The minute he said it, he knew it was wrong. Personich had once been the undisputed heroine of the NASCAR circuit; after leaving that career, she'd broken the land speed record at Bonneville in a vehicle she'd designed herself. Asking her if her car had broken down was like asking Jim Possible's girl if she'd let a villain escape. It just didn't happen.

If Suzanne Personich was offended, she didn't show it. "Something like that. Just need a ride into Middleton. To the Radisson. I'm stayin' in town a few days."

"Sure, get in. I'm Bob Bradley. Man, I'm your greatest fan!"

_A fan_, she thought wearily, getting into the car. _Great_.

On the way into town, half-listening to Bradley recount all of her greatest racing exploits at great length, she considered the situation. Watching Dementor at work had convinced her that he was way too unstable to trust with her secret. It was clear that he would have killed those two kids if she hadn't intervened, not to mention the disaster that contraption of his would have caused. She was glad she'd come along when she did. The man was a mental case.

But there were other scientists that might help. Men who weren't working for the government or for a big corporation. Renegades. Like herself.

Suddenly she became aware that Bob Bradley was waiting for an answer to a question. "I'm sorry, honey, I was thinkin' about somethin'. What'd you say, again?"

"That time you flipped the car at Talledega. How could you just go right back to the track? Man, I'd be scared to death."

"Well, you just don't let fear run you. A scaredy-cat never gets anything done." A lot of people would have been afraid to try the acceleranium on themselves. A lot of people would have never felt the exhilaration, the joy, the freedom it had given her.

All she wanted was to make it permanent. Was that too much to ask?

"Could you pull off at that gas station?" she asked. "I don't mean to be a bother, but I sure could use something to drink. I'm parched."

"Sure thing, Ms. Personich."

"Oh, call me Sue. All my friends do."

"Whaddaya want, Sue? My treat. I insist."

"Well, thank you, honey. Just a bottled water."

A scooter putt-putted by, barely traveling fast enough to stay upright. Sue didn't pay much attention to it, or she might have recognized the riders. Even if she had, she would have had no idea that their paths would cross again, very soon.

"Bueno Nacho stop?" Adventuring always left Ron hungry.

"I don't think so, Ron." Kim was in a mood, had been since they'd left the lair. "I'll just go on home. Homework trouble."

"_Dementor_ trouble! Kim, he's crazy! You can't pay attention to him. Focus on the now!"

"You're right; on the now." She laughed. "Bueno Nacho. Why not?"

"That's the KP spirit! Nothing gets us down."

"You bet." She smiled, but Dementor's jeering voice continued to ring in her mind, particularly that single hateful word: _Obsolete_.


	2. Speed Greed

Chapter 2: Speed Greed

"Science is very dangerous, my dear. Especially in the hands of the unscrupulous and amoral." Dr. Cyrus Bortel left his chair, walked over to a computer. "Excuse me a moment, I need to check something here. Online auction."

"Sure thing, Doctor." Even this brief discussion had convinced Suzanne that Bortel didn't have any megalomaniacal plans or homicidal tendencies. The experience in Dementor's lair had persuaded her to steer clear of that sort of lunatic.

Bortel was also as unscrupulous and amoral as those he warned against.

"Ah," muttered the scientist, mainly to himself, "Portugal is high bidder, but Germany is coming up fast! Well, someone will own a Hyperglymic Lectrovator tonight! What they do with it…" He shrugged. "Lots of applications," he told Suzanne, returning to his chair. "Governments will bid on many strange items. But, you know, it is a good thing. Science for science's sake doesn't pay the bills."

"Absolutely. Everything comes with a price." No scruples, no conscience, and mercenary as well. Bortel was the man for the job. "Honey, I need a favor. A scientific favor. It's worth a lot to me."

"You have come to the right place! What sort of conundrum does a racer find herself in? Maybe you need a hypersonic quantum drive? Very dodgy, yes, but very, very speedy. And I suppose there is already a personal injury waiver on the back of every race ticket. 'You pays your money, you takes your chance,' as they say. "

"No, I'm way beyond that, sugar. What I need is someone who can stabilize the effects of –"

A red light began flashing on the wall; a klaxon's harsh voice blared from down the hallway. Bortel pulled a pistol from the desk drawer.

"Someon after the HL. Call the police, if you will, please. I will deal with this." He headed for the main lab, surprisingly agile for one his age and weight.

_Call the police_. _Yeah, right. This is all I need_. She followed Bortel down the hall.

Standing in the laboratory door, Bortel brandished the gun. "Whoever you are, you come out, and no one gets hurt. Otherwise – "

A bolt of green fire blasted the gun from his hand. He yelped with pain as a woman stepped forward out of the shadows, cradling a strange device under her left arm, her right hand afire with green energy. A green and black harlequin. Personich recognized her immediately; Shego's criminal exploits had made world news quite a few times in the past.

"You _again_?" snarled Bortel. "Is there no end to it?"

"Can I help it if you invent good stuff?"

Standing slightly behind the scientist, Sue closed her eyes. A moment of vertigo swept over her; her senses began to intensify as the power jumped from cell by cell. It usually took several minutes to reach maximum acceleration; the longest she'd ever sustained it was about an hour. Sometimes it disengaged within minutes of its apogee.

She felt sure Cyrus Bortel could remedy that. If she could subdue Shego and recover that device undamaged, he might even do it gratis. But she didn't dare try it yet. As soon as the process reached its peak, but not yet.

"Here are the rules of the game, doc." Shego smiled, her green eyes gleaming wickedly. " I take this hyperglymey whatsit and you and your girlfriend watch me leave. Final score, me 1, you zilch. Or we can do things _this_ way." She slung a bolt of seething plasma at their feet, blasting a hole in the floor. "And the score will be the same. Your move. And _please_ do something about that klaxon; it's giving me a headache."

A voice came from behind and above the criminal: "Can anybody play this game?"

Up on the catwalk was the girl Suzanne had seen in Dementor's lab; with a start she realized who she was. Why she hadn't recognized her earlier, she didn't know; practically everyone on the planet was aware of her incredible adventures, saving the world on a regular basis. Her friend and sidekick Ron Stoppable was dangling just above the catwalk, his foot apparently caught in a loop of rope.

Shego spun around with a snarl, flinging a bolt of energy as she did. "I don't remember sending you an invitation."

Kim leaped to the floor as the bolt blew a huge gap in the catwalk. Without pause she did a cartwheel, spun in the air and caught Shego with a kick that sent her flying across the room, the machine spinning through the air. "How's that headache _now_?"

Growling like a cornered animal, the harlequin shook her head, black mane lashing, and sprang at Kim, both hands blazing with emerald energy. "You won't _have_ a head when I'm done with you."

The teen grappled with her older opponent, hands locked around Shego's wrists, keeping the plasma blasts at bay. Just then Ron, untangled at last, dropped to the catwalk; the weakened structure collapsed beneath him. "Look out, KP!" As it fell, he jumped for a fluorescent fixture hanging from the ceiling, hanging on for dear life. With threatening creaks the light fixture swung back and forth, as the metal catwalk fell forward, snagging and severing electrical cables as it fell, becoming a high-voltage deathtrap. Below it, both Kim Possible and her adversary were still too intent on their fight to be aware of the danger.

In a second they would both be electrocuted.

A second was all Sue Personich needed.

_The……………………catwalk……………_

Kim and Shego were seemingly frozen in midair, struggling with each other, their faces ridiculously contorted. Sue pulled the teenager out from under the slowly toppling walkway first, taking her all the way to the other side of the lab.

_Was…………………falling………………_

Then she came back for Shego, whose features were beginning to register surprise. The thickly bubbling plasma around her hands made it clear that merely tying her up or locking her in a closet would not subdue her. She would simply burn her way free, angrier than ever. That definitely would not do.

……………………_to………………………_

Sue looked around for an answer. Her power might fail her at any moment; there was no time to lose. She saw cables, nylon straps, all manner of wires. And on the workbench, among many other tools, there was a large monkey wrench. Sue hated the idea that popped into her head. She also hated the fact that it would work. She'd never been a violent person. Extremely competitive, but never violent.

There was always a first time for everything.

_The…………………ground………………_

Any second, the light fixture would pull free from the ceiling, dropping Ron squarely into the electrified debris. But Bortel was no longer standing in the doorway. Her hearing intensified by acceleration, she overheard him in the next room, his voice slowed to a clotted muttering:

"….surrre…sheeeeee's….theee….onnne….whooo….stollle….theee….accccellllerrrrannniummmm….frrrromm…"

The scientist was mercenary, all right. No doubt the minute he saw her blur and vanish, he had realized exactly what she'd done, and probably why she needed his services. The acceleranium project had been top secret, but Bortel must have connections in high places. People like him usually did.

The reward, she imagined, was larger than anything she had to offer. It was time to go, before the acceleration began winding down. Another fruitless effort.

She bolted down the hallway.

One moment Kim was struggling with Shego, the next second she was across the room, her ears still ringing from the crash of the ruined catwalk. Ron was dangling from a light fixture overhead; there was no sign of Shego, Dr. Bortel, or the oddly familiar woman she'd seen standing beside Bortel right before the fight began.

Sparks crackled through the metal debris; the smell of ozone filled the lab.

"Ron, look out! Swing for it!"

"Ok…" _Sometimes you just have to take things on faith_, he thought, as he swung out, flinging himself through the air as the light fixture fell into the wreckage below.

Kim produced a tube of something claiming to be hair gel, squirted it at the floor; upon contact with air the substance immediately expanded into a spongy mass, just in time for Ron to land on it, softly and safely. "Nice!" he cried, bouncing to the floor, and then just as quickly went pale, pointing at the far wall. "K-Kim – over there –"

A prostrate figure in green and black lay there, tied up neatly, hands behind her back. Kim placed a finger on the unconscious woman's neck; her pulse was strong.

"What'd you do to her?" Ron's voice held a note of fear.

"Don't weird out, Ron. I didn't do a thing. We were fighting, and then we weren't. Now this_." As strange as that Dementor business the month before. _"Anyone who gets the drop on Shego gets my respect."

Bortel's voice came from behind them: "Kim Possible!" The rotund scientist approached them, followed by half a dozen Global Justice agents. Seeing Shego sprawled on the floor, Bortel smiled coldly. "Dead?"

"No. Unconscious."

"Excellent. Good enough for her, then. Where's the other one?"

"I don't know who you're talking about, Dr. Bortel." She'd dealt with the scientist before; he wasn't a foe, but neither was he to be completely trusted. "The woman who was with you earlier?"

"Ah. Yes. That woman. "

"We saw her there in the door. That's it."

GJ men carried the still unconscious criminal from the lab; another muttered something to Bortel. "Don't worry," replied the scientist, "you'll find her. She can't have gone far." That was a lie; he knew very well that she might have gone quite far indeed.

He would bide his time. She'd be back. He'd reacted too quickly, calling GJ in; it always paid to step back from a problem and think. There was a reward for her capture, but acceleranium itself was worth far more. To the right people, of course. And Cyrus Bortel knew the right people.


	3. Hurry Worry

Chapter 3: Hurry Worry

Monique caught up with Kim in the high school hallway, between classes. "Girl, what is up with you?"

"Nothing, Monique." She really didn't want to talk about it, but had the sinking feeling she was going to, regardless. Monique was nothing if not persistent.

"You gotta get your head in the game. Bonnie's telling the world that you shouldn't be head cheerleader."

"And this is new _how_?"

"You know Tara almost broke her arm yesterday. You weren't there to catch her."

"She _screwed up_, all right? She screwed up the routine. I'm as good as I ever was. _It wasn't my fault_."

"Sure _looked_ like it was."

"Look, I've got a lot on my mind."

"My shoulders are wide, girl. Let it fly."

She might as well. "You know I took this position away from Team Impossible."

"_Head cheerleader_?"

"No! The _missions_, Monique. You know, saving the world and all that?"

"Oh, that. Girl, you need to focus on the important stuff."

"I was better, faster, cleverer than they were, "she said, ignoring her friend's advice. "I made them _obsolete_."

"That's not a bad thing, Kim. They were jerks."

"But now there's someone out there that's better than _me_." She felt herself choking up, but couldn't stop. "I don't want to lose this. It's part of my life. It's who I am: Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything. But I couldn't stop Dementor. Someone else did. I couldn't even bring down Shego. Someone else did it for me."

"You really need to chill. Have you talked to Ron about this?."

"Ron? All he's interested in is Naco Night at Bueno Nacho!" Shame welled up inside her; she knew that wasn't true. Ron was the best friend she had.

"No, "she said quietly, "I haven't talked to Ron."

Suzanne's power was becoming more erratic with every passing day, and there was no more acceleranium. If it failed completely, the chance of a lifetime was gone. There was no going back to Bortel, she was certain of that. Dementor was in prison, and she didn't like him anyway.

And so she had thrown caution to the wind, and sought out this lair, high in the Ozarks. There was no more time. She knew his reputation all too well. She had vowed to avoid his kind. But there was simply _no more time_.

She _had_ to have an answer.

"Why did you steal it?" asked her last hope, running a scan on her biorhythms. "And why would you use an untested serum on yourself?"

"That's personal, hon, but I'm going to tell you anyway. When I was ten years old, I dreamed that I was the fastest person alive. I remember it like it was last night." Remembered the wind whipping past her as she ran. Remembered the onlookers as they oohed and aahed. "That dream led me to my career. I've spent my life driving the fastest machines ever built. Pushing them to their limit. And beyond."

He seemed content with the readings, put the scanner away. "And? After you rebuilt the Fireball, you broke the land speed record. You were the fastest person alive. Literally. Wasn't that enough?"

"No. It was never enough." It didn't matter what she did; in the end she got out of the machine, the dream unfulfilled. "The cars had the speed, not me. Always."

"And somehow you found out about the acceleranium experiments. Remarkable, the things obsession will _drive_ a person to do. So to speak. Of course, I should talk." He gestured around the lair. "It was on a Tuesday – "

"Enough tabloid psychology, sugar. Can you do this, or not?"

"Oh, absolutely I can do it. No doubt. Step over here to the table. The procedure will be quite simple, really. A tiny bionic implant at the base of your spinal column, and you will have complete control over your power. I will give you your dream. For a fee, of course."

She laid down. "I'm ok with that. You're asking a lot, but it's worth it."

"My assistant will be administering the anesthesia," said the scientist, turning around, donning latex gloves.

"Anesthesia? I thought this was just a local – "

"I'd introduce her, but she tells me _you've already met_."

A terrifyingly familiar face came into her field of view, green eyes blazing, rich black hair covered by a hairnet. "I think I owe you one, _sugarbabe_. This is called karma, _honeypie_." She viciously pressed a softly hissing gas mask over Suzanne's nose and mouth, chuckling as the woman's frightened struggles weakened with every second. "Didn't you know Dr.D. and I are a team? He broke me out of jail. You really should read something other than _Drag Racing Monthly_."

The struggling stopped. Drakken came forward, surgical mask on. He was ready to go to work.

At Middleton High, the Kimmunicator beeped. "Let me take this, Monique." She was immediately all business. "Sitch, Wade?"

The ten-year-old IT genius was extremely excited. "Finally got my hands on some satellite footage from outside Dementor's lab. Government's trying to lock that up. No wonder." Still photos began to slideshow across the Kimmunicator's screen. " That's about a half hour after you and Ron went in."

"Went in and got caught," Kim muttered.

"See that figure approaching the lair?"

"That _blur_?"

"Right. That's the best image our finest spycams could get. Einstein says nothing can go faster than light; E=MC2 takes care of that. It would require infinite energy for that sort of acceleration. But she's not far from it."

"Appreciate the science lesson."

"All I'm saying is that we've never seen anything like her before."

"You keep calling this smudge a 'she.' What else have you got?"

"Ran it through some special photo enhancement software." He smiled broadly. "Something I tinkered up one night when I couldn't sleep. Take a look."

Another picture: the woman she'd seen briefly in Cyrus Bortel's lab. No doubt about it. A small blonde, maybe in her thirties, not particularly attractive.

"I've seen her somewhere besides Bortel's lab, Wade. Spill."

"You bet. Her name's Suzanne Personich. She's had her share of news coverage. Used to be the number one driver on the NASCAR circuit. She was trying to break the land speed record in the Fireball L-5X when Motor Ed's gang stripped her vehicle."

"Right! The 'stoplight in the middle of nowhere' trick. Seemed pretty lame to me."

"People have fallen for lamer tricks."

She didn't know if Wade was referring to Dementor's giant flystrips, and decided not to ask. "So how'd she go from breaking the land speed record in a car to breaking it jogging down the street?"

Wade shrugged. "I don't know."

Slowly Suzanne came to her senses, still a little nauseous. There was some pain, but nothing she couldn't bear. It was time to get out of this madhouse. She should have stuck to her vow: stay away from maniacs. Acceleranium or no acceleranium, she should have never come.

Across the room a door opened; Drakken stood there, Shego an ominous shadow just behind him. "I've changed my mind about the money," said the doctor.

"We had a deal." _And if you think you can stop me, Dr. Drakken, you're fooling yourself. Not even with your little green hussy at your side. _"Take it or leave it."

"I've reconsidered the terms. Before you fly out of here, let me explain something about that implant. You have complete control over your power, just as I promised. It will come on when you want it on, and go off when you want it off. You'll find there are even different levels available to you now. Cousin Ed would say you've got a ten-speed transmission. Seriously."

"Get to the point."

"This little wonder of engineering needs a control signal to do its magic. Every day. And if it doesn't receive that signal, it will shut your neural system down completely."

Faster than the eye could see, she shot across the room, grabbed the sneering scientist, fist raised, ready to strike. "Take it out. Now."

Shego raised her glowing hands; Drakken waved her off. "Power down, Shego. Suzanne isn't going to do anything stupid. You see, Miss Personich, that bionic implant requires a special code before it will accept the signal. A code that only I know. Anything happens to me – and you're next."

Uncertainty showed in Sue's blue eyes.

"It would be a terrible way to die." He smiled, an awful rictus of a grin. "Like being… buried…alive."

She released the scientist, stood with her head bowed. "What do you want?" she asked, fearing that she already knew.

"That's more like it. I have a _job_ for you. A job that my assistant has _failed_ at, _again _and_ again_." He glared at Shego; the harlequin defiantly met his gaze, not backing down in the slightest. "But you have _defeated_ my assistant in battle, which means you're _better_ than she is. And that's what I'm looking for. You're going to finally put an end to my hated nemesis, Kim Possible."

"When you're done _hating_ your _nemesis_, "Shego spat, bitterly, "I'll be back. Right now the _stupid_ is getting so high I'm afraid I'll _drown_ in it."

"I must apologize for Shego's manners. She's very sensitive about these things. _Not that I care_," he yelled after the retreating figure.

Sue stood in silence. So this was where it had all led her. A thief, a fugitive, and now –

"Do it _quickly_," said Drakken, and snickered. "Get it? It's a joke."

_No it isn't_, she thought. _Not at all_.


	4. Brisk Risk

Chapter 4: Brisk Risk

Against his wishes, Cyrus Bortel was becoming accustomed to uninvited guests in his lab. At least Kim Possible wasn't a threat, but the teen heroine could be annoying. Too many questions, none of them about science. Her sidekick's aimless roaming around the laboratory complex was much more troublesome; the boy had a gift for breaking things.

"Why did you tell Global Justice she couldn't have gone very far?"

"You must have misunderstood me, Kim. There was a lot going on."

"I don't think so, Dr. Bortel. You knew she had this – acceleranium. She could have been _anywhere_."

It was obvious that the girl still had a moral sense, a conscience. Bortel hoped she'd outgrow that. He had.

"Kim, you must understand. They were not prepared to face someone with, uh, such power. They could have been hurt! I was simply – simply looking out for them. Yes. The real danger there was Shego, and you certainly took care of that!"

"Not really." The mention of Shego struck a sour note with Kim, but there was no time for self-pity in the middle of a mission. "Has Personich been back since?"

"No. But the serum was tested on animals before she got it. I have the results of those tests. If she does return, I'm ready for her."

"What's this thing?" Ron was standing before a large cylindrical device, fronted by a hatch and surrounded by dangerous-looking coils and insulators.

"Step away from that, please."

"Some sort of refrigerator? A little snackology would be fine."

"It's a matter duplicator, but not much of one. Science doesn't always reveal all its secrets at once. If one wants to duplicate bobby pins or thumbtacks, it works, to a degree. But if something living gets in it, well – "

"Rufus, come back here." The little creature had somehow opened the hatch and jumped into the device; as Ron reached down, his belt loop caught a lever on the control panel. With a hateful hiss, the hatch slammed shut.

There was a flash from within.

"Rufus!"

Slowly the hatch opened; thick white vapors parted to reveal a dreadful sight. Slowly Ron bent down, gently picked up the tiny body, eyes filling with tears.

Bortel burst out in laughter, a big Santa Claus ho ho ho. "I _told_ you to leave that alone!"

The teens regarded him with disgust; they hadn't realized he was so heartless. Not even Drakken would have laughed at this. At least not immediately.

Suddenly the scientist realized what was happening. "Oh, you thought – no, not at all! Look again. Your little pet is fine, I assure you."

As if on cue, the naked mole rat hopped out from within the machine, chattering happily. Overjoyed, Ron heedlessly tossed the duplicate away; Bortel snatched it out of the air without even breaking stride.

"You see," he said, dangling the lifeless reproduction of Rufus practically in Kim's face, "it just _does not work_ on living things. It cannot catch the elusive _spark_."

The girl looked away, nauseated. Bortel seemed not to notice.

"But, for that, there is always cloning," he said, and threw the duplicate into a recycling vat. "Ah, science! The future is so bright, we will _have_ to wear shades. Or we will be _blinded_ by science, and who wants that?"

"Who indeed?" Kim rolled her eyes. She had no idea what Bortel was talking about. This interrogation, such as it was, was going nowhere. Ron had found a banana in his backpack and wandered off down a hallway, happily chowing down; she was ready for lunch herself. Maybe it was time to call it a day.

"Dr. Bortel, I think we're done here", she told the scientist, and turned to find Suzanne Personich standing in the laboratory door.

In his mountain lair, Dr. Drakken stepped away from the monitor, disgusted. "Where is she now? _That_ isn't Middleton. Doesn't she know I put a tracking chip in that bionic implant? People don't give me enough credit, Shego."

The woman was filing her nails; without looking up, she replied, "You don't give them any reason to."

"Oh, for the love of – are you going to sulk about this all day? It's just a _job_."

"_My_ job. If anyone finishes Kimmie, it'll be _me_. Not some female grease monkey with a speed fetish."

"But this is delicious! _She_ does the crime, _she_ does the time. And we go scot-free. And Kim-free as well." He rubbed his hands together, began pacing the floor in glee. "Not that she'll do _much_ time without that code word. All the loose ends, tied up in a nice neat bow. I love it when a plan comes together."

Bortel gasped, ran for a bank of controls set in the wall of his lab. Suzanne was in front of him before he had taken three steps.

"Got a phone call to make? You really should keep your cel with you, hon."

"N-no," stammered the scientist, "I, uh, I left the coffee pot on. Silly mistake."

"You don't need Global Justice to take care of a coffee pot. It'll be fine, sugar. Just fine." She advanced on the scientist; her desperate intensity unnerved him. "Things have changed. You're _going_ to help me. I don't know anyone else who can."

"Stop where you are, Personich." Even knowing it was futile, Kim assumed battle stance. "You stole a top-secret serum. There's a price to pay for that."

"_Please_. I've seen you in action, doll. You're not much. Reflexes like yours would get you killed on the track." She continued to walk, backing Bortel to the wall. "Send the child home, doctor, and we'll talk."

"Step away from him. I'm not kidding."

"Go away, Kim Possible. I don't know why you're here and I don't care. _I don't have time to play around. _ Now get out of here before I give Drakken what – "

"_Drakken_? What about Drakken?"

"KP, what's going on?" Ron had wandered back into the main lab, was standing beside the control panel Bortel had tried to reach. "Who's that?"

"_Red switch, extreme right_!" yelled Bortel.

"_Hushpuppies_!" Suzanne Personich blurred and vanished, but this time the blur suddenly skidded out of control, slid across the floor, passed Ron to crash into shelves stacked high with books and boxes.

Groaning, the little blonde tried to stand up. A banana peel lay in the floor, squashed and trampled.

"Ok, I couldn't find a _trash can_, all right?" Ron jabbered.

"_Red switch, Ron!" _

As Suzanne got to her feet, Ron threw the switch; a deep hum emanated from the walls of the complex, more felt than heard. The woman stepped forward, stumbled, almost fell.

"W-what's wrong with me?" She took two more halting, unsure steps, surprise, even fear in her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Acceleranium's effects are temporarily neutralized in a high-frequency electromagnetic field," said Bortel. "I've been busy since the first time we met. _Now_ I will call the authorities."

"_No_! No, _don't_. I _surrender_. I'll do the time. _But I need your help_!"

Kim realized the woman's fear was genuine. "Dr. Bortel, maybe you should listen to her. She said something about Drakken – "

The doctor cut her off. "Where's the rest of the serum?"

"There isn't any. I took it all." She looked at the clock. With super-speed she could still make it back to Drakken's lair. Not that it mattered. The price he demanded was just too high. "_I'm not a murderer_," she sobbed. "I've been a thief and a liar, but I _won't_ be a _murderer_."

Kim shoved the doctor out of the way, went to the woman's side. "Suzanne, what's the sitch? What's Drakken got to do with this?"

She poured out the whole story. Quickly. Because time was running out.

Shego was fed up with Drakken's gloating. "Why the jailbreak? So we could play hospital? 'Scalpel.' '_Scalpel_.' 'Suction.' '_Suction_.' Yeah, _that_ was necessary. _Prison_ wasn't as boring. And I _definitely_ wasn't interested in seeing Speedy up close and personal."

"It's how it's _done_, Shego! Don't you ever watch _TV_? The _doctor_ says 'scalpel' and the nurse _obliges_." Stopping himself mid-rant, he continued more sedately: "I broke you out of jail because – because I needed your help. You'd do the same for me."

"You go right on believing that." She went to the monitor, watching the phosphor blip that was Sue Personich. "So where _is_ honeybaby-sugarpie, then, if she's not going to visit the princess?"

"Don't know, don't care. Maybe she's paying a call on her dear old grandmother. Or something." The blue man picked up a small signal box, amused to know he was holding Suzanne Personich's life in his hands. Just above the alphanumeric keyboard, a digital readout was ticking down the seconds. "If she dawdles too long, she's got a date with the undertaker."

"Maybe she knows someone that can remove your bionic thingamabob."

" Maybe she _thinks_ she does. There's a big difference. If she wastes her life running around the world, there isn't much I can do about it. When this timer runs out, the ball will be back in _your_ court."

Her eyes in shadow, the harlequin smiled grimly. She was better than Possible and she knew it. Someday very soon she'd have the chance to prove it to the world.

And honey-sugar-baby would be yesterday's news.

Bortel inspected the image on the screen, shaking his head. "The device has extended cyberconnections throughout your spinal column. I'm no neurosurgeon, Sue. Even if I had six days instead of six hours, I couldn't undo what Drakken has done."

"My mother is," Kim told her. "One of the best neurosurgeons in the world. If anyone can remove that thing, she can. We just need to buy you some time. And I've got an idea. A _gorchy_ idea, but it's all we've got."

"Ah, good!" said Bortel. "The _gorchy_ ideas are the ones that end in _money_!"

The matter duplicator loomed large in Kim's vision. "This one, aah, not so much."


	5. Finale: Zoom Doom

Chapter 5: Zoom Doom

Drakken was baffled by the pace of the phosphor dot. "She's just creeping along. Sixty, seventy, seventy-five miles an hour. She'll be practically out of time when she arrives."

Shego was engrossed in a crossword puzzle. "And we're worried about this _why_?"

"The code. The _signal_. The _plan_."

With a sigh, she closed the magazine, stood up. "Dr.D, let me make some things clear. First, this plan, and I use the word 'plan' _very_ loosely, was the worst you've ever coughed up."

""_Coughed_ up?' I don't like that analogy. Besides, this was providence. Not the city in Rhode Island, but the philosophical concept of –"

She reached out, pinched his lips shut. "You don't talk now, ok? _I_ talk." She let go hesitantly, ready to pinch again, but Drakken stayed silent, lips still pursed. "You told sugar-honey-baby-bunch that if she failed, she was finished. What happens when you're faced with _this_?" The harlequin fell to her knees, looked up at Drakken with synthetic sorrow on her face. "'Pleeease, Dr. Drakken, hon, have mercy. That cute little girl gave me the _puppy dog pout_ and I just couldn't do it.' "

"That's not bad, Shego. You have a gift!"

She stood up, a thundercloud ready to strike. "_What happens then_?"

The blue man looked from side to side, sweat beading on his brow. "I – I don't know, I mean, we can't really just go around – that is to say, er, you can't just, you know – " Perplexity became petulant rage. "_Everyone deserves a second chance!_"

Shego laughed, humorlessly, bitterly. "_That's_ why you don't get any respect. That's why Dementor has all the fans. That's why Kim Possible ridicules you. Her sidekick thinks you're a joke. Even the _rodent _thinks you're a joke!"

"_Shego_ – "

She would not be silenced. "You're always asking me if you're _evil_ enough. 'Do you think I'm _evil_, Shego?' 'Am I as evil as _Dementor_, Shego?' _Show_ me that you are. If Speedy fails you, make an example of her. Be ruthless. Merciless. "

Drakken hesitated, almost afraid to speak. "But there is a _possibility_ that – that she might _not_ fail."

"Oh, _puh-leeze_. There's a possibility that the earth'll fall into the sun. There's a possibility that Lindsay Lohan'll make a comeback. There're all sorts of possibilities, but honeybaby's not gonna take down Kim Possible." She went back to her puzzle. "You do what you want. And it'll all go south. As usual."

An hour of silence passed before Suzanne Personich's features, cold and hard, appeared on the wall monitor. "Disarm your boobytraps and death rays. I'm outside cargo bay ten. Bring the signal box."

Shego closed her crossword book. "Hmm, no honeybunches or sugarplums. That's a plus."

"Was she in a _car_?"

"Looked like it. Maybe Speedy ran out of gas. Some people's powers are _unreliable_. That would make her pretty much useless, don't you think?'"

"I'll _deal_ with this, all right?" snarled Drakken.

"'Outlived their usefulness.' I think _Dementor_ says that occasionally. "

"You don't have to give me any _hints_. You don't have to _push_. In fact, stay here and finish that crossword."

"Oh, no. I'll be right at your side, Dr.D. Me _and_ my crossword."

"Thanks for nothing," he grumbled, as they entered the lift. Unexpectedly, Shego reached down, grabbed the signal box from Drakken's hand.

"Give me that!"

"Nope. I'll hang onto it until you need it." _But you won't._

Before he could protest, the lift doors opened; Suzanne Personich stood before them, waiting.

Drakken wondered how to handle this, especially after the tirade upstairs. Shego found a seat at the receiving desk, started in on her crossword; he imagined her with a compliance chip on her forehead. Things would be so much easier. Oh well. "You were cutting it sort of close. Why the _car_?"

For answer, Personich walked to the vehicle, opened the trunk. A familiar red-headed figure lay within, clad in her usual mission gear, seemingly unconscious. "I could hardly _carry_ her that far."

Appalled, the mad doctor drew back, as if she would spring from the trunk and attack him at any moment. "_What th_ – why did you bring her back _here_? _That_ wasn't the deal. I told you to _'get rid of Kim Possible.'_ I think we all know what I meant."

"Crush, kill, destroy," said Shego, still concentrating on her puzzle. "Terminate, exterminate, delete, annihilate, send to Dukhonin's staff – "

"_Thank_ you, little miss thesaurus. _I wanted her dead_."

"She is."

With a sharp gasp, Shego stood up, the puzzle forgotten. "You're a liar. "

"Is - is what?" Drakken stammered. Nothing had changed, and yet now he couldn't look at the body in the trunk.

Personich seemed unfazed. "Didn't you want proof that I _did_ it? The code, please."

The harlequin came forward, slowly, dangerously. "_You_ couldn't beat Possible. You're not good enough."

Suzanne was not intimidated. "We didn't _fight,_ hon. Drakken said 'make it quick.' I did."

The scientist knew he should do something. Shine a penlight in the eyes, see if the pupils dilated. Check for a pulse. Something. Instead, he stepped away from the car. "This had better not be a trick."

Suzanne shrugged. "Examine the body."

"Er – ha ha! Of course! Of _course_ I will! What do you take me for? Squeamish? No one can say Dr. Drakken is squeamish. I _will_ examine the body," he said, moving still further from the trunk and its contents. "You _bet_. Anyone can _say_ they've finished Kim Possible, but where is the _evidence_? Only examining the evidence can – "

" I'm on sort of a deadline here."

"Not so fast. You'll get the code when I'm satisfied with the job. Good thing you brought the, uh, _remains_ here. I never take _anything_ at face value. Shego, I have a job for you."

There was no answer. "Shego?"

Drakken's harlequin sidekick was leaning into the trunk of the car, two pale green fingers pressed against the side of the redheaded girl's throat. Nearly two months earlier, Kim had felt for Shego's pulse in Bortel's lab; Shego had no idea she was imitating that action. Strange feelings were churning inside her, feelings she couldn't identify or control.

"_Kimmy_?" She had to find a pulse. _Had_ to. But beneath her fingers there was nothing. The flesh was stiff, gelid.

She put her hand on the girl's shoulder, shook the lifeless body with a tenderness that gave Suzanne and Drakken chills. "Wake up, Kim. Wake up." Bending close to the dead face, she pleaded, "It can't end like this. _Can't be over, cupcake. Please_." Without realizing it, she had begun stroking the girl's hair. "_Don't do this to me, Kim_." She moaned, looked up at Drakken. "_Do_ something, Dr. D. You have to _do_ something." There were tears on her cheeks, accusation in her eyes. She tore herself away from the body, stalked threateningly toward the scientist.

"Stop it, Shego." He backed away, not liking the looks of this at all. "There's nothing I can do."

"You have to_ fix _this!"

"What's _wrong_ with you? This is what we _want_, remember? 'Ruthless, merciless.' Pull yourself together."

"Drakken, _I need that code_." There was an edge in Suzanne's voice. "_I did my part_."

"Yes. Yes, you did. " The blue man cautiously held out a hand to the harlequin. "Shego, give me the box."

"No. She killed Kimmy. _My_ Kimmy." Her eyes smouldered, her features hard as flint. "She can't have it."

"Give it here."

"_No!"_

"Are you insane? _Obey me_!"

Shego held the precious device high; a burst of green fire fused its circuits into junk. With a frightening laugh she threw it down, crushed it under foot. Pieces skittered across the floor.

Suzanne was too stunned to move, much less accelerate. That box was her only hope. This whole crazy scheme had been a longshot, but no one had expected _this_.

"Whatcha gonna do _now, _honeypie?_" _the harlequin jeered, and attacked without warning. A fierce kick to the solar plexus sent the little blonde across the floor, clutching her stomach, gasping for breath. She was no fighter. Not like Kim had been. This would be easy. "Can't _speed up_ if you can't _think_, can you?" Another kick. No plasma bolts. Speedy didn't _deserve_ them. "Stupid little _grease monkey_! You've ruined everything. _Everything_!_" _

Drakken fled across the cargo bay, never looking back. Without the signal box Personich had minutes to live, regardless of the fight's outcome. Trying to get through to Shego right now would be a fool's errand. In time she would accept the situation; until then, it would be better to stay out of her way. The hovercar was just down the hall. It was definitely time to go.

He ran around the corner, out of sight.

"This is for_ Kimmy_." Enraged beyond reason, Shego raised the woman above her head, flung her with all her strength into a stack of crates; it teetered and fell, separating the combatants. In a panic she leaped to the top of the debris, power sizzling around her hands, but her target was already nowhere to be seen. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_, thought the harlequin, frantically throwing bolts of green fire across the room at random. _What was I doing?_ _She accelerated, and now I can't find her, and any second-_

"_I STILL WIN!" _she screamed to the empty air, just as the knockout blow fell. This time Suzanne felt no remorse about slugging the woman. More than once, in fact.

As the harlequin went down, Drakken reappeared, struggling in the grip of one of Wade Load's robotic avatars; behind the machine came Ron and Kim.

"A dirty trick!" bellowed the mad scientist, shaking a fist at Kim. "It didn't fool me for a moment!"

Suzanne decelerated, looked at her watch, like it mattered.

Five minutes.

"We had some henchman trouble," Kim quickly explained, "but a Wadebot's a handy thing to have around. Did they fall for it?"

"Too well. Shego smashed the signal box. She was avenging you. I _think_." Suzanne's heart pounded, her breathing came in short, sharp gasps. She'd never been afraid of death before. "I'm done."

"Not yet,' said Wade's image, on the robot's facescreen. The machine extended a scanner, swept its beam over Personich. "I can transmit the proper frequency. That's no biggie. But the implant won't accept it without the access code."

Kim confronted the scientist, icy rage in her eyes. "Drakken, I promise you, if you don't talk, I'll –"

Looking beyond the girl, he saw his sidekick lying sprawled on the cold floor. "What have you done to Shego?"

"That's the least of your worries. Spill!"

"Ruthless. Merciless," he muttered. "You will _never_ get anything out of me. How're you feeling, Speedy? You're running out of time." He laughed. "And I'll fill Shego in on the juicy bits."

"Wade – "

On the Wadebot's screen, the boy was furiously typing. "I'm trying everything I know, Kim. I've got cryptography computers tied in from all over the world. Whatever sort of cipher he used, we're not breaking it. It must be more complicated than anything in the data banks."

"Of course it is," gloated Drakken, dangling from the machine's claws. "My genius shall not be defied. You think you're all that, Wade Load, but _you_ _are_ _not_!"

In the grip of mortal fear, it was all Suzanne could do to speak. "Kim, please, promise me that – that you'll keep this whole thing secret. Don't let my blunder be my epitaph."

"No one's writing epitaphs today." There were thirty seconds before the implant turned Suzanne Personich off, permanently. "_Wade_!"

"Kim, I got nothin'!"

"Wait!" shouted Ron. "Wait! _I _got it! _I _got it! "_Password_." Wade, enter _"Password."_

Kim wondered if her friend had lost his mind. "Ron, we don't have time for that sort of – "

"Do it! Do it!"

"I'm in! I'm in! Transmitting signal now…"

The clock inexorably ticked on: three seconds. Two. One.

Zero.

Sue Personich drew in a deep breath, the sweetest breath she had ever drawn.

Kim was still astonished. "'_Password_?' That was _it_?"

"It's what _I_ use," Ron proudly announced. "The Stoppable Impregnable Fortress of Data Protection."

Wade shrugged his shoulders. "We were trying too hard." He spun around, typed a few lines. "Global Justice's on the way to pick up Drakken and Shego."

"And me," said Sue Personich. "I'm turning myself in. Don't know if we'll ever cross paths again, Kim, but thanks. Thanks for everything."

"I know the head of GJ, Sue," said Kim. "I'll put in a word for you. I'm sure they could use someone with your, uh, _unique _ability. "

"_Everyone's _unique, hon. Don't ever forget that."

"KP! _Trouble_!" Ron was standing at the trunk of the car, his face pale. "_Duplicate's gone_."

"Wade! We've got problems. Can you patch me through to Bortel?"

"Done." The image blurred, became the rotund scientist's face.

"What is it, Kim? I'm in the middle of something."

When was he ever _not_ in the middle of something? "My duplicate's disappeared!"

"Oh, that is _another_ problem with the matter duplicator. The duplicates eventually dissolve. Poof! Back to quarks and wavicles. That machine needs a lot of work." Bortel scratched his head. "At least I _guess_ it is the duplicate that dissolves. Never really checked. Wouldn't it be something if the _duplicates_ survive and the _originals_ suffer the side effects? Who would ever know?"

Kim stared blankly into the screen, shell-shocked by that revelation. _I'll have nightmares the rest of my life about this_, she thought.

Oblivious, Bortel rambled on. "Science! She is a hard schoolmaster, Kim!" The screen went black.

"Of course it vanished," Ron said, ignorant of his friend's distress. "There's only _one_ KP. Right?" He grinned, a big dumb Ron Stoppable grin.

Kim tried to smile back. She had never heard the term "existential crisis", but when she did, she would know exactly what it meant: an unexpected side effect to the hero business.


End file.
